


it's an avocado... thanks

by GreenTam



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Age Difference, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Autistic!Dick, Honestly everything is a mess, M/M, Misunderstandings, dumb fun, meet cute, past dickkory dickdawn dickbarb and dickwally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 22:19:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17109164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenTam/pseuds/GreenTam
Summary: To whoever took my jacket by mistake.We’ve got the same Hawk & Co. jacket. It appears you accidentally took mine from one of the couches at Jason’s party last night, and left yours. Mine had my keys, which I clearly need. Yours had an avocado in the pocket, which I’m assuming is equally important.





	it's an avocado... thanks

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know guys. i really don't.
> 
> i wrote this instead of writing a continuation of my other fic.. yeeeeeeet

Agreeing to go to Jason’s party was a… mistake. Dick knew that in the week running up to the get together; crammed in the penthouse Bruce gave Jason with a bunch of people closer to his brother’s age than his own, all drunk and dancing to music Dick found more of a headache than a bop? Sounded terrific.

 

He’d even told Jason so. Those exact words and his brother had given him that irritating shit eating grin and told him the time and date, and to make sure his calendar was clear. Not that it wouldn’t be, Jason had said raising his eyebrows, not like you get out much.

 

Which wasn’t true. Earlier in the month he’d accompanied Donna to her latest gallery feature: who cared that the only people he spoke to were Donna, practically his cousin, and Kory. Who cared if the girlfriends turned to each other as they formed a kind of intervention on him telling him he couldn’t spend his life only talking to his family and his exes. 

 

He talked to Hank, he’d defended, which ended in a car ride back to their apartment filled with hysterical laughter and, the two of them making their best impressions of his and Hank’s admittedly pathetic and unnecessarily confrontational small talk at Dawn’s birthday get together.

 

“Our cousin and your ex don’t count, bro” Jason snorted before slapping Dick around the face in what he assumed was suppose to be some kind of encouraging pat if Jason had any concept of how strong his swings were; and like a moron Dick turned up to the party. Just to prove Jason wrong was his excuse.

 

And so what if he actually enjoyed himself. So what if his awkward blurting scared off all but one of the college goers Jason hung out with on campus-  _ I don’t know all of them bro, it’s not a party if you know everyone there. Host or not. -  _ an equally awkward young girl with a navy bob and the same fizzy pop alternative to booze Dick was nursing. He’d attend the glorified frat party but he’d be damned if he actually got drunk at it.

 

Dick even started to believe coming was a good idea. Rachel was great and didn’t give him uncomfortable flirt eyes. They’d spent the whole time talking about herbal teas over alcohol, the crime of pineapple on pizza and why their respective dads sucked.

 

He quickly revoked the happy smile on his face and the conclusion that the night hadn’t been that bad when he reached into his jacket pocket for his keys and found instead…

 

“What the fuck?” Dick said, blinking at the avocado in his hand. Dumbfound didn’t even cover it. He stood under the archway of his apartment, shivering from the cool night, trying to make sense of the spherical, weirdly textured and mildly squishy fruit that his keys had inexplicably turned into. 

 

He took a calming breath. And another one. And another.

 

Jason’s party sucked.

 

* * *

 

Unsurprisingly, despite Dick having painstakingly saved up the deposit with his own hard earned cash so that he owed Bruce nothing, his adopted father still had a spare key to his place. Normally Dick would have kicked up a shit storm and yelled until he was blue in the face on the many reasons why that was a creepy and invasive thing to do; but this time he ground out a small thank you to Tim who had, because Bruce was a coward who fully expected his eldest to lose his shit at him if he turned up himself so had sent the nearest version of a Human shield instead, driven over to deliver the offending spare key. 

 

Without being asked in, Tim followed Dick in anyway. Figured.

 

“So you actually went to Jason’s party?” Tim questioned, voice soft with disbelief. He went to poke at one of Dick’s stims, lined up on a shelf where he could easily reach them, and grinned when the man intercepted as usual. 

 

Dick nodded. The offending avocado sat on the living room coffee table. Staring at him. That is if avocados could stare; which right now Dick felt like they could.

 

Tim made a small ‘huh’ sound and made himself comfortable on the couch. “Jay invited me too but I didn’t actually go because unlike you-”

 

“-you’re not old enough to drink” The elder interrupted with a heavy look, not remotely surprised by Jason’s lack of concern for American drinking laws. 

 

His little brother’s silence was as offensive as the goddamn avocado on the table.

 

Tim leaned forward while Dick left the room to get them both drinks: squinting at the avocado with profound confusion. Beyond the avocado on the other couch was laid the stranger’s jacket that bore an understandable resemblance to one he’d seen Dick wear a number of times. If he remembered correctly, Kory had bought him the jacket during the year they had dated, and while most would have discarded anything to do with their ex; Tim knew Dick was both a useless excuse of a man and still on amazingly good terms with Kory, even in light of her moving on from him with their cousin.

 

“You really didn’t notice until you got back?” It sounded insane for Dick not to have noticed such an important detail.

 

Dick appeared back through the door, looking miserable, holding two mugs of steaming hot tea. Not a drop of either spilled when he dropped himself down next to Tim and handed the yellow one to him. He didn’t dignify Tim’s question with an answer.

For longer than either brother would later admit, they sat sipping tea and staring at an avocado.

 

On the wall the clock ticked from one in the morning to just past two by the time Tim piped up. “Tell you what, I’ll get Jay to send you an invite to the group chat he organised the whole thing on, then you can drop a message asking if anyone has your keys and jacket”

 

Dick finished his tea and put his blue mug down next to the fruit.

 

“Good idea. I’ll get down some blankets for you” The older said, standing up to stretch, ignoring the fond look Tim was sending him. Tim was perfectly capable of heading back home no matter what time of night: but Dick would be damned if he let him.

 

The black haired man nodded, small smile on his face. “Thanks, bro”

 

He chuckled when Dick ruffled his hair in passing.

 

* * *

 

Three in the afternoon, the day after his party, Jason rammed some toast down his throat and checked his phone. Barely fifteen minutes before he’d sent off the invite to Dick per Tim’s request, after laughing until his ribs hurt at the absurdity of Dick’s situation for a good ten beforehand, and hey maybe someone had already gotten back about the keys.

 

He immediately coughed out a billow of crumbs: spewing out some hideous mix of a cackle and a gargle.

 

“Fucking hell, bro” Jason wheezed, eyes watering as he reread the message another time just to be sure. 

 

And he’d thought the avocado instead of keys mishap had been the highlight of his week. 

 

Roy looked up at him from his laptop screen, brow cocked and wondering why his friend was suffocating on toast; that was until Jason thrust the phone screen into his face and he took a second to skim through Dick’s message.

 

_ To whoever took my jacket by mistake.  _

 

_ We’ve got the same Hawk & Co. jacket. It appears you accidentally took mine from one of the couches at Jason’s party last night, and left yours. Mine had my keys, which I clearly need. Yours had an avocado in the pocket, which I’m assuming is equally important.  _

 

Roy threw his head back and guffawed at the ceiling. 

 

“Dude, your brother”

 

Jason grinned, beaming with love for both his brother and the sight of Roy laughing so heartily. “I know right”

 

* * *

 

Half a day later and most of the replies to his request were various laughing emojis, claims they were screenshotting the golden message and wondering why on Earth someone would bring an avocado to a party. 

 

But none of them were from the accidental thief disappointingly.

 

That was until an unknown number messaged him through Whatsapp, pining through as Dick was preparing himself dinner.

 

Licking sauce off one hand and picking the phone up with the other, Dick opened up the message and scanned through quickly: deflating with relief when he finished.

 

_ Hi, I’m Rachel. I brought my friend to the party so he’s not in the chat but I think he might be the person who took your jacket by accident. :) _

 

The name Rachel rung a bell and Dick dismissed it, opting instead to add her to his contacts and reply back as quickly as possible.

 

**_Hey. Dick here. That’s a relief, any chance I can trade back with your friend by the end of the day. I really need my keys back._ **

 

Impatiently he tapped a tune on the counter top, waiting for both a message back and for his pasta to cook, the second ping had barely finished sounding before Dick was scrambling to read Rachel’s message.

 

_ Omg Dick???  _

 

He sighed.

 

_ i’m pretty sure we spent the whole time talking, party really wasn’t our scene was it??  _ Dick frowned at the crying, laughing emoji, but was pleasantly surprised her exclamation wasn’t about his choice of nickname for once.  _ Not sure if u remember. pale, blue hair, won the contest on how much black i could wear in one outfit?? _

 

Despite himself, Dick chuckled at that.

 

**_Yeah I remember you. Herbal tea enthusiast. Small world. So can your friend meet up?_ **

 

_ i know what are the chances, lol. & yea i just asked him and he wants to know if u know where ivy’s cafe is _

 

Dick threw the name into a Google search and nodded even though Rachel couldn’t see it.

 

**_Yes I do._ **

 

_ Great :D he can meet you there at six when his shift ends. he’s the green haired guy. _

 

Their messages stop after that, partly because there’s nothing left to say on either end- even if Dick was tempted to try cracking a joke about whether unusual hair colours are a must for their friendship group- and because his lunch had finished cooking.

 

* * *

 

Ivy’s Cafe wasn’t somewhere he’d ever been before. In fact before that day he hadn’t even known it existed despite living just a few blocks away. 

 

The store itself was the type of place that was a regular cafe during the day time, and some kind of  bourgeois wine club after seven pm. It was rustic and homely looking; shabby chic, lit up with warm golden lamps and unapologetically following the vegan aesthetic. Potted plants covered almost every inch of the place and a cute little bell rung out when Dick pushed the door open, alerting the red haired woman at the counter. Her hard gaze contrasted to the gentle, warm feel of the cafe and he briefly wondered if she was going to stab him with a cake fork as he approached the counter.

 

Behind her was lined up a row of different loose teas in jars and a huge blackboard only half filled out- the rest of it being immaculately filled in with chalk marker by a young man with telltale green hair. Dick watched the guy lean precariously to the left, nearly coming off his stool, and cleared his throat when the red haired woman clicked her fingers in front of his face. Absently he noticed she had two rings on her marital finger- one conventional gold and the other green iridescent with black, red and regular clear diamonds lining it. The second ring was uh… ugly.

 

“I said what can I get you?” She said to him, cocking a sharp eyebrow. On her breast was a badge that read ‘Pam’. 

 

_ Pam  _ couldn’t have looked more like she wanted him dead at her feet.

 

“Uh, I’m actually here to see…” He pointed to the guy behind her, and Pam’s expression changed to one of mild interest. As if he were an unusual bug she’d never seen before, tiny and crawling across the armrest of her sunbed. 

 

Hand on her hip, Pam tilted her head back by way of recognition. “Ah, so you’re the jacket stealer”

 

Dick frowned. “Actually he was the one who-”

 

Uninterested in his reply, Pam turned away and stepped up to the young man engrossed in filling out the menu in surprisingly neat flowing calligraphy, and roughly yanked a cord hanging by his stomach. Dick winced sympathetically when two earphones were painfully pulled from the guy’s ears, and the green haired man in question yelped.

 

“Gar, that man’s here to see you” Pam informed him, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder at Dick without looking back at him. 

 

Her heels clicked on the reclaimed wood floorboards as she stalked off to clean a section of the counter, less because it was dirty and more because she didn’t want anything more to do with Dick or the jacket fiasco Gar had info-dumped her with.

 

Dick’s hands jerked on reflex to try and steady someone two feet away, a counter between them, when Gar recklessly jumped down from the rickety stool and seemingly stumbled into the desk. If it hurt to have his stomach smack into the edge of the counter he didn’t show it, instead the green haired stranger grinned at Dick blindingly.

 

Wow. 

 

Tiny tingles ran over his skin, dancing in his stomach and the back of his neck, and his mouth got confused and gaped instead of smiling politely back.

 

“Hey, Dick right? Rachel, uh, Rachel told me your name. I’m Garfield, no, um ah Gar- you can call me Gar, not Garfield, don’t call me that. It’s… It’s Gar” The young man told him, words shy while his tone seemed confident. “She said you two were talking a lot at the party… Guess that’s how I got confused. Easy mistake I guess, with music and booze, and all that, you know? I saw a jacket that looked exactly like mine next to her when we were leaving and boom!”

 

Overwhelmed by the flurry of talking and how incredibly flattering the yellow lighting was over the stranger’s warm skin tone, Dick nodded.

 

“Boom” He agreed in a monotone.

 

An agonising pause spread out between them.

 

Gar squirmed and darted a look across at Pam, who rolled her eyes at him and snapped at him to leave already. 

 

“Your shift ended five minutes ago anyway” She didn’t finish it off with ‘moron’ but somehow Dick could hear it anyway like some power of suggestion.

 

Gar grinned again, bouncing by way of walking as he left his post at the counter and disappeared into a backroom: leaving behind a dumb stuck man in his wake. Pam caught Dick’s wide eyed gaze and for the first time her steely mask cracked, revealing a tiny smile like something about the situation was supremely amusing to her. Pam turned away again, setting about exchanging mugs for wine flutes and glasses, and Dick was left to his own devices waiting for Gar to return.

 

It took longer than expected to regain his bearings as he wasted time looking at the artwork hooked up on the walls, reading their prices but not registering them, and it was up for debate on whether he had truly got them back by the time Gar came bounding back out from the back room now clad in a side bag and an oversized jacket; specifically  _ Dick’s  _ oversized jacket.

 

A jacket that wasn’t oversized on him, but very much so on Gar. 

 

“These jackets are way too big for you” Spilled out of Dick’s mouth without his say so, interrupting whatever Gar had been about to eagerly say. Somewhere in Gotham, Alfred Pennyworth suddenly had the urge to sigh.

 

Instead of being offended, or whatever, Gar’s surprised expression melted into another breathtaking smile and proving Dick’s point flapped a sleeve in the taller man’s direction. “That’s because oversized jackets and sweaters are the best. I always buy at least two sizes too big. It’s cosy and you can wear all the layers you want: it’s the future”

 

“Right” Dick agreed, brain slowly waking up and reminding him he needed his keys. “So, my keys and your avocado”

 

Gar’s lips quivered at how serious Dick was able to say those words. Dick was honestly surprised himself.

 

The green haired man ducked his head, grinning at the ground, and gestured with one arm to leave the store. “I didn’t bring them to work with me, I was worried I’d lose them. They’re back at my dorm”

 

Oh. Okay. That showed a remarkable display of both concern over the importance of Dick’s keys, and also a distressing ease of trust. 

 

Dick could be anyone. He could be a murderer. A rapist. A racist. He could be anyone and-

 

“You uh… coming?” Gar bounced from one foot to the other, all faux confidence gone in seconds when Dick hesitated.

 

Dick shook his head, fighting off the urge to lecture the kid on the dangers of inviting total strangers to his dorm room, and wafted a hand uselessly. “Yeah, lead the way”

 

He’s a kid. Dick told himself when Gar’s face light up brighter than the sleek spotlights in the ceiling.

 

* * *

 

By the time they reached Gar’s front door, Dick was fairly sure he knew as much about Gar’s zoology course as he did. Once Gar got talking he didn’t stop and Dick quietly thought that was the most relatable thing imaginable. He couldn’t fault Gar on something Dick was guilty of doing himself: how many times had Dick scared off potential friends and partners because he didn’t know when to stop talking, or hadn’t even noticed when the other person wanted to interject?

 

In this case the tables had turned. Dick found himself to be the person who sat listening to the blurr of non-stop words.

 

By the time Gar was putting the key in the door and slamming himself against it to fight what he blashfully explained was jammed hinges, Dick was certain he was completely fucked.

 

Pretty? Check.

 

Vibrant? Check.

 

Jason had once announced to an embarrassingly large group of people that Dick’s type was anyone pretty whom made a loud impression. At the time Dick had angrily questioned what Jason even meant by ‘loud impression’ but now, looking back with hindsight, the eldest adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne fully understood his meaning. 

 

With Barbara it had been when she quite literally crashed into his life, falling from her treehouse onto him a week after Bruce first fostered Dick into his home. With Wally it was when he beat Dick in a race and celebrated their respective first and second places by hauling Dick up in a hug, spun him and smushed a wet kiss against his cheek. He and Dawn had collided at a summer charity gala is father was throwing, spilling champagne all over her dress and his suit shirt, and the pair had spent the rest of the night sitting in Bruce’s fountain outside drinking straight from a bottle: neither caring about the looks they were getting from the balcony above.

 

And Kory had steam rolled into his life in a flurry of heavy nightclub music and tequila on his twenty-fifth birthday.

 

A jacket swap and an avocado was practically tame by comparison.

 

“Shit” Gar flinched, knocking Dick from his internal crisis when the door swung open violently and the younger man darted forward to catch it before it dented the wall on the other side. He shot Dick a sheepish look and then flicked a hand into the room, ushering Dick in. 

 

Doing as he was told, Dick shuffled into the small dorm room and looked around- unable to help himself. Unlike Jason, Dick had chosen to delve fully into college life, including living on campus instead of a penthouse Bruce was eager to purchase for him for the duration of his degree, and being inside a small box room with two beds, two desks and two wardrobes squeezed into it was bringing back surprisingly fond memories. 

 

Late nights, fast food, the sting of eye strain staring for too long at a laptop screen at two in the morning… the moaned assurances that his roommate was out for the night as Wally kissed up his throat, pushing him towards his side of the dorm room and down onto a small single bed with squeaky springs.

 

Dick shut down that comparison quickly.

 

Gar closed the door behind them and immediately threw his bag down on what Dick guessed was his bed. He shouldered off Dick’s jacket and held it out to him.

 

Dick stared at the jacket for a moment. Then snapped to attention with a quiet ‘oh’ as he unzipped Gar’s jacket and handed it over, smiling as they made the trade. His smile widened when Gar made a sound of delight when upon investigating the pockets of his returned jacket, found inside his avocado.

 

Before he left Dick was definitely going to ask about that.

 

He put his jacket back on, a universal sign that he was  _ not  _ going to be staying much longer, and Gar threw his own jacket off away into the room without looking where it landed: his attention instead fixed on rifling through the top drawer of his allotted desk.

 

The avocado rocked on the table top.

 

Dick’s mouth twitched close to another smile when Gar made a small victory sound.

 

“Here we are, one set of keys safe and sound!” The younger man cheered, turning on his heels to present them to Dick with an awkward flourish. The quick slam of the drawer closing knocked the avocado completely off its perch and before he knew what he was doing; Dick’s reflexes had him surging forward to catch the fruit. 

 

Just before it hit the floor, the avocado landed neatly in the palm of his hand, and Dick looked up at Gar, who’s own reflexes reacted and reached out his other hand to land on Dick’s shoulder: stopping Dick just in time to prevent him from headbutting Gar in the gut.

 

Oh.

 

Oh this imagery was  _ not  _ welcome. Dick thought, his internal voice squeaking.

 

Crouched, looking up at a pretty face, with his head lined up parallel to the hips of pretty face’s owner, and a hand on his shoulder. 

 

_ Not the first time you’ve been here, eh bro?  _ Imaginary Jason’s snide voice quipped unhelpfully within his head. As if the real Jason would ever want to comment on Dick’s sex life.

 

“Ah-ha… Ha” Dick blurted within seconds, rolling back on his heels before rising to full height again, smile wonky as he offered the fruit to Gar. “Almost lost your… um… your avocado”

 

From the neck up Gar was beetroot, but he managed to gracefully accept the avocado back; replacing it with Dick’s keys. House key, garage key, car key and bike key. All there, safe and sound.

 

“Yep” Gar popped. 

 

The clock on Gar’s roommate’s desk clicked seconds gone by as the pair let their brains catch up with them. 

 

Then in unison;

 

“-It was nice meeting you-”

 

“-I should go-”

 

Another short pause.

 

“Yeah, yeah, it was nice meeting you too” Dick nodded, strained. His hand numbly reached for the door knob, dark eyes not breaking contact with Gar’s, and wrenched the stiff door open with one sharp tug. With one last moment spent staring at the kid standing dumbly in the middle of his dorm, Dick struggled for words and settled with: “You shouldn’t bring strangers here. It’s dangerous”

 

Gar blinked. “Oh. Um. Okay. I… Yeah”

 

Dick pursed his lips and closed the door.

 

He made it half way back to his apartment before realising he forgot to thank Gar.

 

“Fuck”


End file.
